Karst landscapes are among the topographically most complex systems with various microhabitats, where species can persist despite unfavourable macro-environmental changes. These microhabitats can also function as stepping stones during range shifts. Although the enclosed depressions (dolines, sinkholes or tiankengs) of karst landscapes may act as such safe havens, data on the functional diversity of their animal assemblages are scarce. Here, we investigate the functional diversity (i.e., certain functional groups and functional traits) of ant assemblages in dolines and study whether dolines surrounded by resource-poor environments (i.e., Fagus sylvatica forests) may function as safe havens for different kinds of ants. We found that dolines have the potential to maintain distinctive ant assemblages characterised by specific functional groups and traits that are rare in the surrounding habitats. Although continuous Fagus sylvatica cover in dolines had a detrimental impact on ant assemblages, grassland dolines surrounded by grasslands or Fagus sylvatica forests supported the presence of some specific functional groups and traits. These results suggest that conservation management needs to consider the influence of vegetation characteristics not only in dolines but also on the surrounding plateau. Moderate grazing and/or mowing would be desirable in order to prevent shrub encroachment into grasslands to ensure optimal vegetation structure for ants in the long run. Therefore, proper management and conservation of these safe havens may mitigate the rate of biodiversity loss under global warming. There is a need to explore a wide variety of taxonomic groups and taxon-specific traits in parallel with the quality of the surrounding habitats when evaluating current and potential microrefugia.

中文翻译：

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岩溶微型避难所寄主功能特异性蚂蚁组合

喀斯特地貌是具有各种微生境的地形最复杂的系统之一，尽管宏观环境发生不利变化，物种仍然可以在其中生存。这些微生境还可以作为范围转移期间的垫脚石。尽管喀斯特地貌的封闭洼地（天坑、天坑或天坑）可能是这样的避风港，但关于其动物群落功能多样性的数据却很少。在这里，我们调查了漏斗中蚂蚁组合的功能多样性（即某些功能群和功能特征），并研究了被资源贫乏环境（即山毛榉森林）包围的漏斗是否可以作为不同种类蚂蚁的避风港。我们发现，漏斗有可能维持独特的蚂蚁组合，这些蚂蚁组合具有在周围栖息地中罕见的特定功能群和特征。尽管漏斗中连续的山毛榉覆盖对蚂蚁组合产生不利影响，但被草原或山毛榉森林包围的草地漏斗支持某些特定功能群和特征的存在。这些结果表明，保护管理不仅需要考虑漏斗中植被特征的影响，还需要考虑对周围高原的影响。适度放牧和/或割草将是可取的，以防止灌木侵入草原，从长远来看确保蚂蚁的最佳植被结构。所以，对这些避风港进行适当的管理和保护可以减缓全球变暖导致的生物多样性丧失速度。在评估当前和潜在的微型避难所时，需要与周围栖息地的质量同时探索各种分类群和特定分类群的特征。